Business
Panera parent JAB Holding adds
to portfolio with Pret A Manger
LONDON - Global investment firm JAB
Holding Co. has reached an agreement to
acquire Pret A Manger from Bridgepoint,
another international investment firm. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Founded in 1986 in London, Pret operates 530 stores worldwide, including 92
in the United States, and has sales of approximately €879 million ($1,015 million).
Pret offers sandwiches, salads and wraps
that are prepared daily in the company's
shop kitchens. At the end of each day,
Pret offers its unsold food to charity. In
2017, the company said it gave away 3.4
million food items.
"This agreement recognizes the hard
work of all our amazing teams around
the world," said Clive Schlee, chief executive officer of Pret A Manger. "Bridgepoint has been wonderful owners of the
PRET A MANGER
business for more than a decade. All of
us at Pret believe JAB will be excellent
Post 'turning up the heat' with
ready-to-eat cereal launches
LAKEVILLE, MINN. - A first-time collaboration with Cold Stone Creamery
and a spin-off from Honey Bunches of
Oats headline a flurry of new ready-to-eat
cereal launches planned at Post Consumer Brands, a business unit of Post
Holdings, Inc.
In partnering with ice cream chain Cold
S O U R C E * B L E N D * I N N O VA T E
16 / June 5, 2018
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long-term strategic owners. JAB believes
in Pret's values and supports our growth
plans. I am really looking forward to this
next chapter of Pret's story.
"I am also pleased to say that 2017 was
another year of solid results for Pret, and
we achieved our ninth consecutive year
of like-for-like sales growth. The brand
continues to thrive around the world
thanks to our simple recipe of freshly prepared food, served by genuinely engaged
teams."
JAB Holding Company and JAB Consumer Fund have controlling stakes in
Keurig Green Mountain, Jacobs Douwe
Egberts, Panera Bread, Peet's Coffee &
Tea, Caribou Coffee Co., Einstein Noah
Restaurant Group, Inc., Krispy Kreme
Doughnuts, and Espresso House. JAB
also holds a minority stake in Reckitt
Benckiser PLC. MBN
Stone Creamery, Post is creating what the
company describes as a "first of its kind
ice cream-themed cereal." The bagged cereal will be sold under the Malt-O-Meal
brand and be available in two varieties:
Strawberry Blonde, featuring honey graham and strawberry flavored cereal with
marshmallows, and Birthday Cake Remix,
featuring birthday cake flavored cereal
with chocolate flavored marshmallows.
Post also is expanding its Honey
Bunches of Oats portfolio with the debut of Honey Bunches of Oats Granola.
The new product is available in three
flavors - toffee almond, maple pecan
and French vanilla almond - and comes
packaged in zip-sealed bags that Post
said provide "freshness and versatility as
a cereal, snack or yogurt topping."
The base Honey Bunches of Oats lineup
of R.-T.-E. cereal is getting a new flavor as
well: Banana Bunches with Almonds. The
new variety includes banana puree infused
in the granola and banana-flavored flakes.
Post's Shredded Wheat cereal will add
three new varieties: Original Frosted Shredded Wheat, Strawberry Frosted Shredded
Wheat and Frosted Chocolate Strawberry.
Also new to the Post portfolio is Peanut
Butter & Cocoa Pebbles, which features
crispy rice cereal combined with peanut
butter and cocoa.
In addition to the new cereal launches,
Post said it is expanding distribution of
its Chips Ahoy! and Nutter Butter cereals
nationwide, and is bringing back Honeycomb in its original shape and flavor.
"We continue to listen closely to our consumers and evolve our brands to deliver
some of best tasting cereals available," said
Roxanne Bernstein, chief marketing officer at
Post Consumer Brands. "This summer is jampacked with new and delicious additions." MBN
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